Category: Visual art

I’ve noticed when observing all kinds of students of different ages when they are about to pick up some new skill or try to do something they haven’t been trying before: too much preparation can result in never getting started with anything.

Children usually are very successful with absolutely new stuff: they don’t try to over-prepare and don’t try to collect all possible and imaginable tools and references in order to get started. That has been the case with anything in my very long teaching career: it was the same when I was teaching German language and literature, or Latvian, or design, or art.

We are flooded with huge amounts of information: every second, every minute when we have turned on TV or are sitting at computer, or are checking out our phone. This information can be related or totally unrelated, true or false, meaningless or crucial to whatever we are doing and we are supposed to absorb at least some of it. Should we? To some extent we obviously should be aware of what’s going on and do research when we are exploring something, learning something or trying to figure things out.

However, with so many sources and with such infinite amounts of advice, we most likely will feel rather lost.

This refers very directly to drawing, painting and any other creative activity. I know people who would not start drawing or painting because they assume they don’t know everything about it. They are trying to get ready for this activity, to learn “the basics”, to explore techniques and mediums in order to decide what exactly is that they’d like. Many of them never get to any drawing or painting. Why? There are millions of different techniques, approaches and ways to do that.

How it is then possible to find out whether painting is what one wants to do? Extremely simple: give it a try. Nobody knows everything about anything. We can follow hundreds of websites, we can watch thousands of “how to” videos and read endless articles or books about painting. There’s lots of advice out there, and some of that is even useful for us in particular, but most of it will not promote one’s start-up in art. Why not? We have to do before we can decide if we like that or not. Only those who get their hands on that something can hope to get something done.

Other good feature of students who don’t have too much knowledge is that they have no fear. They are not afraid to damage paper or canvas and they fearlessly apply courageous strokes of paint or put down lines on paper. That results in a good or satisfactory first painting. They do not think it is some kind of superb masterpiece but realistically evaluate it, try to understand what went wrong or didn’t come out as expected, and so they can keep improving themselves with the next painting. The knowledge comes through doing and that is the only way to gain experience. Experience is an excellent building block of mastery.

This is how hands-on activities are contributing to fast development of any skill: you see it happening and you try it immediately. Something went wrong: try it again. Watching other people doing and showing things can give us an idea about how we should proceed, but until we haven’t tried it out for real, we will never know how exactly it is done. We can learn all kinds of composition and color theories, but when the paint dries out fast and when the brush is moving, there’s no time to recall all lectures and articles. The way we can make our own color theory happen is to mix, to test, to check and to apply paint. This might take some time until the brain remembers what hands were doing and how this was matching our creative intentions, but eventually we will have it: our own elaborated theory on anything.

The first steps are the most difficult. Those who are afraid to get wet won’t ever learn swimming.

It will be interesting to compare some of these first works with art they’ll be doing in a year or two.

Gallery

Share this:

Like this:

Why are live art classes so much loved when all kinds of online and offline art learning materials are available? For established artists or someone who has quite a lot of painting experience, watching tutorial videos can be beneficial. They know what the demo is about, they understand how to achieve what is told they would, and there is usually no problem with following the guidance material, even though it can take pretty much time.

It is a bit different with beginning artists or students who have no real painting experience. For people who have encountered tough situations when painting on their own, for students who struggle with some parts of painting, some colors or application of some techniques and never get the result they are looking for, for somebody who tried and was ready to give up painting because of difficulties, nothing can replace live direct teaching and personal approach in a real art class.

It is very obvious that knowledge can be achieved thanks to learning, trying and experimenting. I like shortcuts in all areas of life, so I am teaching how to get great results in painting without having to engage in struggles and frustration. It is no secret that many people give up painting, drawing or art because they assume it is something they will never manage or make work for them.

Acrylic is a specific painting medium: along with huge advantages it possesses some drawbacks, too. The most frustration is probably caused by very fast drying times which sort of gives no time to work out parts of painting properly. However, once one gets familiar with these features, acrylic does not feel any more difficult than any other medium. We learn treating a painting in such a way that we can work in layers and on segments.

Tips for art students: you do not have to overdo with blending. Instead of brushing all along from dark to light and from light to dark which very often will cause everything become the same color, try applying paint exactly on those spots where it needs to be. Place darks where you see them, place medium shades where they belong and finish up with lights. They come together with light stroke of damp clean brush, usually flat brush.

Great artwork usually contains many or some opposites: lights, darks, weak and strong values, sharp and soft edges, contrasting colors, both in tone and temperature, lines, layouts and shapes. Often problems arise when there is no contrast in the painting; it looks all flat and unimpressive. Try not brushing too much but move smoothly from one color to another by applying paint in segments so that no darks are lost. If you lose your darks or sketch lines or drawing has disappeared, re-establish the darks and sketch in new lines or shapes.

While any advice can be helpful, in direct class we can learn how to avoid most problematic areas, what effects to use, what techniques to avoid and the art teacher is there to provide immediate help when some problem arises. Any issue gets fixed straight where it occurred.

We learned to use attractive grey shades of green and blue

Grey is a fantastic color to make reds stand out

We had a beautiful object to paint

Painting in progress: layering acrylic

Blocking in the main shapes

Barn painting: acrylic painting requires layering

Lots of texture: Liz always prefers plenty of paint and multiple thick layers, this is just the beginning, results are stunning

Reflections require focus and fairly abstract approach

This painting is done: Joan works fast and loves detail, results are fantastic

Our very friendly and inspiring Wednesday night group

Great atmosphere in the studio is a key for successful classes

This picture shows the demo board. Group teacher does not have plenty of time, demos have to be done fast and they must show the most important aspects. The demo board which can be renewed before every other class, is very useful, it allows showing many different objects, color mixing and other techniques at the same time.

Tip for art teachers: if you are giving many classes a week or more painting classes a day, consider using instead of separate canvasses or canvas boards a larger size lightweight board. I am using recently just large cardboard which is covered with gesso and some middle tone. I prefer brownish-grayish tones since they facilitate quick demo.

Tip for art students: unless your painting requires lots and lots of pure white, use toned canvasses and canvas boards since human perception works better with medium dark backgrounds. It is easy to add darkest darks and lightest lights on pre-toned canvas.

Tip for everybody who loves creating art: do not stop doing it when you encounter some problem. When some painting does not work out, instead of pressuring yourself and painting, set it aside, give it some time, place it somewhere you can see it when walking around, and the right solution will cross your mind at some point. You will later understand easily what exactly you have to do with this painting. Anger is a bad advisor, and frustration is even worse.

If you are using photo reference, remember that painting becomes the primary as it develops, and the photo is secondary. Chose always what better suits painting, not what it is on the photo. That refers to color, shapes and details, as well. The task of art is not to recreate a photo, but to create something completely new which is perceived on its own.

Share this:

Like this:

In addition to all kinds of disastrous social symptoms, we are recently hearing about the creativity crisis. Really? How come? Why do we even need such a personal feature as creativity?

I doubt anybody with more or less understanding of personal development would argue that it is very important to develop our creative side and work on it. Creative activities help lessening different mental conditions and make life more cheerful by raising serotonin levels and, thus, add to our inner balance. Balance is the key to everything: good health, well-being, success and prosperity. Long-term and broad research shows that creative children are more likely to succeed and cope with any situation which comes up in their lifetime, they will feel more confident and less lost if something unexpected happens than those lacking creativity. Creative activities can make one’s life easier, more interesting, fuller, more exiting and less stressful.

I was reading recently how becoming creative was described as getting into some state of mind and intentionally trying to make that happen. I am very sure it won’t happen that way. Becoming smart, interesting, enthusiastic and creative is not following five easy steps. This takes work, efforts, numerous experiments and perseverance. Creativity is not somebody will pour over you, and nobody can actually teach you how exactly to be creative. There are so many definitions, approaches, tests and scores to detect whether you are or are not a creative person. Creativity has to originate from the inside of an individual. It is possible to get advice, technical and practical guidance in any activities, but the process is up to you.

Creativity is a very attractive feature similar to being interesting, imaginative ability and innovative talent that empowers a person. We all have some desire to be noticed, to be loved and appreciated. By doing something creative we are opening the doors for love, appreciation, new friendships.

Whenever the talk touches creativity, nobody has told so far they know for sure they’d hate to be creative. I am most often receiving completely contrary messages. People complain their life is boring, dull, it is lacking any interesting or magic aspect and they would love to become somehow involved with creative things. So what’s stopping them?

Many people give up quickly anything which does not happen the way they thought it would right away. Some give up activity they just started to find out about because the results did not show after first half an hour or first attempt. Some are feeling sorry to spend any money on what they think is simply a pastime.

Spending some money on creative activities is inevitable. The least costly thing is probably writing poetry or stories. However, writing sad stories or poems, composing sad songs or listening to them can trigger low-spirits and depressive episodes, thus, sensitive people should rather participate in some artistic groups until they feel strong enough to do something on their own.

So, yes, you will have to spend some money for your fabrics or papers, for sewing machine or brushes, for garden or crafting tools. I would say that is definitely less than one spends on fast poisonous foods, useless drinks or antidepressant pills.

Depending on your creative activity, there are also real benefits because we spend way less money for anything we have created than bought ready-made. The creative mind works like this: I have some stuff, I’d need maybe some small bit of other stuff and I probably could make something great out of it. The consumerist’s mind works such a way: where do I get it and how much will it cost?

Where to get inspiration or idea what is that you would like? There are hundreds of options: all craft and art shows, all creativity meetings, local meetings of writers and photographers, amateur song and dance festivals, amateur theater performances, garden shows, musical gatherings like open mikes, galleries, art and craft stores and departments, fabric stores and more. Besides, there are always people at these events and places who will give a good advice on where to start.

Yet, surveys and research tell us, the creativity is dramatically decreasing and something needs to be done to reintroduce more creative activities in our families, schools and society.

It is never too late to engage in creative things. Local people who are interested in art could join my art classes and attend the creative workshops. I am not surprised some of my students love these art classes so much that they return year after year, and they would miss anything else, but the weekly art class. It is obviously doing something good for them!

My experience after teaching at high schools, colleges, individually, in groups allows concluding the following. The idea of becoming creative most often is present in the family and it is passed over from generation to generation. Kids who pick up arts, crafts, sewing, writing, dancing, playing an instrument in early childhood most likely will continue engaging in some creative activities all life. There is much less depression, anxiety, upset moods, loss of interest in life, engaging in drugs, alcohol and troubles among teens who love creative life style and who paint, write, dance, sing, play an instrument, compose than in those who only spend all their free time on the street, in parties and at computer. The same goes for adults. People who do a lot of creative stuff are much less complaining about loneliness, depression, feeling lost, seeing no meaning or purpose in life than those who at the best go to the bar or sit in front of TV.

Share this:

Like this:

Winter ends in the art studio around half January. That’s just how impatient we are: once Christmas is over, we’ve got to start preparing for Valentine’s Day, Easter and most importantly for spring.

While winter may seem to be long, boring and unpleasant to many people, we are using the best part of it: the picturesque beauty of snow-covered fields makes a good scene for painting, especially when contrasted with frozen or silently running dark streams to which the majestic attraction of trees under the snow is added.

Well, our vision and perception of any object are absolutely unique: there are no two persons who can see one thing in exactly the same way. That’s how nature has taken care of our individual features. That’s also how one image becomes a reflection of many personal interpretations and allows to create lots of distinctive paintings which are attractive in their own way. Painting as a process is a very individual activity regardless of how much of external experience or a priori knowledge we are implementing in this process. The art we are creating from scratch will always carry our own features, as well. From psychological point of view, it is possible to associate certain types of lines, composition, application of paint, colors, amount of detail or lack of it with particular human features. I find this fantastic because that’s one more way how our uniqueness manifests.

The emerging painting style is like handwriting: once we have perfected it, it’s completely ours. Does it make sense to repeat somebody else’s writing? Probably not, not even in these cases when you are told your writing is hard to read. The most beautiful hand-writings are actually all complicated and hard to read.

10 students in two groups were painting the winter scene

I couldn’t take pictures of 4 paintings, one was not present at the last class, 3 did not finish the painting yet

Like this:

Such classes are lots of fun, they are exciting, and students can create very real art for whatever needs they have: decorating teen’s room, giving as a gift or preparing a portfolio for future studies in an art college.

I have scheduled 1 acrylic painting class for teens and young adults (10 to 18 years) during this fall term.

Thursday 5.30 pm – 6.30 pm (teens/youth 10-18) Fee: $14

Lots of excitement, lots of discoveries, lots of fun, not to mention the happiness of having created something.

Materials are not included; however, the material list for teens is noticeably smaller than for adults.

Pretty many sheets of thick paper towel and medium large plastic or paper plates

Kids and teens who want to draw more and use watercolor or watercolor pencils are welcome to attend 2 Tuesdaywatercolor and drawing classes and 1 Wednesday drawing, sketching and painting class:

Tuesday 5.30 pm- 6.30 pm (teens/youth 9-15) Fee: $14

Tuesday 7 pm- 8.30 pm (teens 10-18) Fee: $16

Wednesday 5.30 pm- 6.30 pm (teens/youth 9-15) Fee: $14

Development of observational drawing, visual perception and artistic abilities; starting with simple objects, perspectives and scenes and gradually achieving excellent results. Very exciting classes with plenty of pleasure to explore new themes.

Materials include good watercolor paint set (please do not get absolutely spicy shades), watercolor paper from 14 x 18 and up to 16 x 20 in; 3 watercolor brushes: 1 flat (1 inch); 1 round size 8 and 1 round size 10-12, all with fine tips, pencil, eraser, cardboard base and painters tape to attach the paper, rather larger size plastic palette for mixing up paints and fairly many sheets of paper towel.

Watercolor pencils are optional.

Registration is already on.

I have scheduled an introductory class for newstudents and those who might be interested on August 29 between 4 and 6 pm. I will pass out applications, answer questions and show materials.

Share this:

Like this:

The Fall Art Festival at Camp Samac not only allows one to explore a wide variety of different artists works, but also gathers many hundreds of people interested in art, crafts and creative achievements. It was not surprising that the majority of artists presented smaller size art, art prints and art cards. Even though, there was a fairly large crowd of visitors at some art displays throughout the show, the most buying activity involved smaller, more inexpensive original pieces and art prints. The impression was that the original art was loved and admired, but not that much purchased.

However, taking into account the large number of participating artists (71) and the even larger number of art presented, I must say this event had great success and resulted in many nice transactions for artists and gorgeous acquisitions for art lovers.

We had many thoughtful conversations and discussions, but I only could get a few pictures from this event (with kind consent of the respective artists) since general photo taking was not allowed.

Judith Harper

Judith presented nature, floral, landscape and even figurative paintings in warm attractive colors. We had a great talk about different art issues and this show, and I was really happy to meet her in person.

Light in some of her landscapes was really impressive, and the gentle capture of nature made me think that Judith loves to paint objects which are meaningful and close to her.

Mike McGowan

Mike told his painting ideas originated in his imagination, and he had no need for photo references or direct object set-ups. His colorful abstract paintings and collages attracted many visitors, and he was very often involved in enthusiastic conversations with them.

The vivid colors were really eye-catching, and he couldn’t complain about lack of interest. Mike also helped me with advice and explanations which I highly appreciated.

Anne is well-known for her sensitive beautiful watercolor and acrylic paintings which depict various nature themes. She finds the beauty and magnificence in simple objects which we are often just passing by.

Anne uses a very specific dreamy blue in many of her paintings, and maybe the symbolism of blue is adding another feminine touch to these impressive paintings.

I was very satisfied with this show. This was a great opportunity to get better understanding of the local art scene, make friends, get to know other artists, and sell some paintings. 3 of my originals were sold, and I thought that was great because I did not bother with printing cards or getting art prints.

Share this:

Like this:

I belong to people who have lots of duties, responsibilities, appointments, arrangements, etc. I am always planning ahead, but I often find myself balancing on knife-edge to meet all deadlines and to make all things happen. Generally speaking, I cannot avoid some rush with whatever I’m trying to do. Getting ready for art shows always involves some frantic adding of last strokes to some time ago created paintings, some sudden new painting idea just the night before the show; and, yes, that’s me typing the art sales sheets and printing labels just half an hour before I leave to set up the show.

This is how it looks at 10pm the night before the art show. I need my watercolors for signatures and small corrections, I need acrylics for adding some highlights or freshening up the lost darks. I need everything to be right there and all around. What a mess, really! However, this photo was taken before I started to do all of these adjustments. It looked much messier at 1 am when I decided to leave everything alone and get some sleep.

These paintings are waiting far labels, they are also getting checked for imperfections or missing signatures.

This is such a happy moment when the provided space is set up. It seems like nothing to it, and I really have to wonder, how could it take so incredibly much time and efforts?

I decided to do mostly trees this year, and when I stopped by, I found out that 3 paintings were already sold. Great news.

Why trees? I find them extremely human, having so much of character which people are often lacking. I don’t think there can be ever painted too many trees or flowers, these silent guards of our living space.

Autumn birch painting

Birches are stubbornly maintaining their white coats regardless of seasons. It’s not surprising they have found reflection in so many poems, paintings and stories. How to stay white is the lesson they teach.

We can respect maples for knowing how to lose their beauty in such a gracious and marvelous way, there are no regrets, just sadness for rapidly disappearing magnificence.

This maple road painting was done in my rich acrylic texture technique. Paintings of this type change colors as the surrounding light does, and depending on the viewing angle, foliage feels almost touchable at some moments. This painting was also sold straight after I put it out. These paintings exist only as single originals since no prints or similar reproductions can be made, and that’s what I like about them.

Share this:

Like this:

I decided to post explanations and some pictures showing art supplies which we are frequently using in our watercolor, sketching and drawing classes.

You can use watercolor pencils, watercolor paints in tubes or set of pan watercolors when starting out. You do not have to buy everything right away, but small set or some paint tubes are necessary for the first class.

Student grade watercolor paints will not have the same properties as artist grade paints because they contain more fillers and less pigment. There is still always something in between: not too expensive and with acceptable quality. However, it is better you get only a few tubes of excellent paint than 20 tubes or large set of bad quality paint. I love St. Petersburg watercolors for their brilliance and transparency.

It is extremely important to have a good watercolor paper because your painting results will directly depend on quality of paper and paint. We are using thick, rough or fairly heavy, cold press watercolor paper. Not all brands will have the “ROUGH” paper, but all of them offer “COLD PRESS” paper. Please pay attention that we are using only cold press paper (it is written straight on a block of paper). The thickness of watercolor paper is measured by weight. So, the greater the weight, the thicker and better the paper. It is measured either in pounds per ream (lb) or grams per square meter (gsm). I would recommend, you look for paper which weighs at least 140 lb (300 gsm). The heavier papers are more expensive, so choose something from the medium range. We use either Arches, cold press, fairly heavy or we order online Saunders- Waterford paper.

Poor quality paper will buckle, warp and it will not allow to use some painting techniques because the number of washes is very limited on thin paper. Masking fluid can cause it to tear. Thin and poor quality paper simply does not have layers for paint to travel through them, therefore, water creates spots, sits on top of the paper surface, does not get absorbed and does not allow paint flowing and creating nice washes.

The size of your watercolor paper actually matters, too. It happens very often that beginners choose paper of a very small size. It is a wrong assumption that painting tiny stuff is easier. The smallest size you should go for is approximately 12 x 16 inches, and we are quite often using even larger watercolor paper because it allows to understand painting techniques better and create art much easier.

To paint comfortably, you will need to attach your paper to some firm, but light base. It cannot be heavy, we need to lift, rotate, tilt and so on, it has to be easy to hold and handle. Firm cardboard or something similar is fine. The base should exceed the painting paper size. Please attach it with the green painter’s tape to the cardboard or similar base.

We are using good pen for pen and watercolor drawings. I would recommend black pen which does not bleed with application of water, Micropen in sizes 0.2 or 0.3 is great.

Graphite pencils, medium soft or hard, and kneaded eraser, also known as putty rubber or artist grade eraser is also necessary. We cannot use the regular hard eraser since it damages the watercolor paper.

We do apply both: graphite transfer or copying paper for transferring our drawing onto watercolor paper and tracing paper for creation of large scale sketches when the drawing is complex or requires to show values clearly. These papers should be in size close to the watercolor paper. Please also have some testing paper which you can use for trying out colors or similar stuff. Cheap watercolor paper would do.

We are using some small, medium and medium-large size brushes. Just make sure you buy watercolor brushes with soft bristles. Synthetic brushes are fine and inexpensive. We are usually fine with one flat brush (at least 3/4 or 1 in wide) and two to four round brushes with fine tips. Sizes 6 to 12.

When painting with watercolor, it is highly recommended to use well absorbing paper towel. Paper towel is necessary for cleaning the brush, taking off extra paint or water and correcting your painting. Paper towel is necessary for every single step and class.

Palette can be very simple, just watch out that you do not get something tiny since it is extremely difficult to mix up reasonable amounts of paint in something which is size of a quarter. If you think, you’d rather save the paint which is already on your palette, get some medium size palette with lid, that way you won’t have to dispose any paint, as long as it’s not dirty.

These are watercolor pencils. It is possible to achieve excellent results using these pencils either for the entire painting, or only for its initial stages.

It is better to buy watercolor painting supplies in a specialized art store, I do not think Wallmart is an option for paper, brushes or paint, but you could get paper towel, painter’s tape, palette and base for attaching your painting there.

Share this:

Like this:

Spring has finally arrived, and the beautiful blossoming keeps us busy at my art studio. It is always inspiring to paint something which makes us happier and cheers up. Colors are so lively and impressive, shapes so gracious and captivating that brush paints almost from itself.

Some Saturday class students (ages 12-16) kept working on their favorite flowers, some moved onto their toy animals.

Experience shows that the object can be practically anything, the most important part is how we are presenting it, how we are making the viewer to see what inspired us and made us to paint the particular object on watercolour paper or canvas.

Happy and busy

Diana painting pansies

Kristina is painting a hanging flower pot

Diana’s spring pansies

Kristina enjoys the colorful flower pot painting

SUMMER ART CAMPS FOR YOUNG ARTISTS 10-16

I am offering creative arts day camps for 3 weeks this year.

Each week is filled with exciting artistic activities and involves exploration of art approaches, learning of new techniques, improvement of skills, development of visual perception, drawing objects from direct observations, both indoors and outdoors, sketching, journaling and painting with watercolors and in mixed media technique.

I’m adding also some 3-dimensional techniques this year for students to try out absolutely new and unexpected effects which can be achieved using imagination and creativity.

Results are usually extremely good, and paintings which were done during this week can serve as a wonderful wall decor in student’s room or as a gift.

This location features large, light and well equipped indoor art studio and beautiful huge outdoor space for plein air painting, it is very easy to access (downtown Whitby).

The garden is surrounded by old trees which provide relaxing shadow during hot summer days.

There’s always something blossoming.

Such surroundings and environment always boost artist’s imagination, and nobody has to look for special inspiration.

I hope, I will hear from you soon once you have checked this out.

Please watch Rogers TV, Durham Daytime Show on May 23 at 11am-12. I will be presenting my art classes and creative arts summer camp.

Share this:

Like this:

Living in more and more civilized world, we are loosing our ties with nature and seasonal cycles. Light and sunshine are very important factors which can tremendously facililate our energetic resource regeneration and our recreation, but lack of these essential elements causes inevitable destruction and death of anything organic and alive.

Lux aeterna – the eternal light, is the light in its highest meaning, light as a symbol of timeless flourishing and development.

I don’t think, it’s coincidence that “luxury” and Latin “lux” (light) have the same linguistic root. And, yes, the sunlight is a luxury which we are taking for granted.

Animals and plants are more involved in natural processes, and, no wonder, they thrive and bloom, and are at their energetic top-levels in spring. I suppose, humans were pretty much the same, but the artificial surroundings, which allow us to imitate any season and, thus, facilitate our functions regardless of the weather, don’t require us to feel and understand nature any more. Most of us have our shelters, and who actually cares, how long it’s going to rain or snow.

However, those of us who have still maintained the extraordinary sensitivity to underlying processes of nature, would probably agree that spring has not lost its importance as a driving force of the new seasonal cycle.

Nature wakes up, live juices start to circulate in trunks of trees, grasses and weeds lift up their tiny heads, buds are getting bigger and bigger with every second, first blossoms show their faces to the sun, and birds give the best concert of the year, especially when the day is bright and sunny.

Well, it’s really the right time for new initiatives, new challenges and wake-up activities. This is the renaissance time of our town, city, area, land, country, hemisphere. This is such a breathtaking renewal of our mind and soul, and our body shouldn’t be left behind.

We are welcoming the return of spring with our colourful floral paintings in my studio-gallery, and I will show in my next post how we are drawing and painting these artworks.